Vistara (UK, Delhi International) is expecting to take delivery of its first two widebody aircraft, B787-9s, in February and March 2020, and plans to deploy them to London as one of the first destinations, Chief Executive Leslie Thng told the Indian media.
"First, two B787-9s [will] be delivered in February, March… We have plans to use [the] B787-9 on long-haul. London is one destination we are keen on. We are planning and we will announce when we are ready,” Thng said.
Following the demise of Jet Airways, the India-London market is currently served by Air India (AI, Delhi International), British Airways (BA, London Heathrow), and Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow). TUI Airways (BY, London Luton) also operates charter flights to Goa Dabolim.
The Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines Group 51/49 joint venture plans to add a further five A320neo Family narrowbodies by the end of 2019 and then an additional dozen in 2020.
By March 2020, Vistara plans to operate 42 aircraft, almost twice as many as in March 2019. The airline's fast growth was largely propelled by the market gap left by the bankruptcy of Jet Airways (JAI, Mumbai International). According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Vistara currently operates thirteen A320-200s, fourteen A320-200neo, and nine ex-Jet Airways B737-800s.
Having launched international operations on August 6, 2019, Vistara currently operates international services to Singapore Changi, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Dubai International, and Colombo International.
Thng also said that Vistara will seek to expand its network of international partners. It currently codeshares with Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, JAL - Japan Airlines, and British Airways. Recently, Lufthansa has reportedly made overtures to the Indian carrier to strengthen their existing interline agreement.
